I have been set aflame, ignited in love
May my purpose burn brightly
May it bring light
This actum amare journey started less than a week ago. Buoyed in response to the dialogue surrounding our presidential campaign, I wanted to fill my days inside spiritual texts. To read how love is moved into action in spiritual stories and traditions. To share my reflections and be moved by the words of spiritual history. And then a campaign with a platform of hate speech won... and I took a long pause. I have been coming into an uncomfortable awareness of the presence, pervasiveness and pain of racism (and other isms and phobias) in our country. While I do not think most of those who voted for the President-Elect support his rhetoric, his rhetoric is impacting others. Both by emboldening those who would act on it and hurting those who are victims of it. I have witnessed the pain and shame of a child being told, "Donald Trump hates black people like you" and worse. It is heartbreaking. I have seen how, as a white individual, I have been free of this pain. How, just for the color of my skin, I have had an ease in my steps. Centuries of privilege at my feet, I am saddened at how blind I've been to this blessing.
This is a journey about love as an action in spiritual texts and traditions, and it will remain that. But what I have also realized is that in addition to my study of love as an action, actual acts of love are also required. We have neighbors feeling unwelcome and unsafe based on their heritage, race, family or beliefs and it is not okay. It necessitates all of us to stand up together and speak out against hate. To come together with love as our voice.
And so I begin. I begin with my gained awareness, with continued study, with reflection, and I move forward with my own love turned to action. Action of reaching out to my neighbors and community. Action of starting a conversation and then keeping it going. Action to understand how it feels to walk through our world with thoughts, beliefs, family, heritage, different from my own. It starts with saying, I love you. With meaning it. With looking my community in the eyes. With saying you are welcome always at my table. To keep reaching out in understanding and love. It is the action of letting this fire of awareness burn within me, burn with the shame of not seeing it sooner, burn with the purpose of being the change I want to see in the world. I have been set afire. Afire with the belief that together our love can move our world. I will work for it every day! May we all shine our light!